FrequentlyAsked Questions

Absolutely. Your payment is made into the Open Prepaid Funerals Trust Fund where it is managed by a board of trustees. The trust fund is a separate entity and independent from the Good Funeral Guide and Open Prepaid Funerals Limited.

Do I have to pay a large amount up front?

No, the Good Funeral Guide Prepaid Funeral Plan is designed so that you can start small and add funds along the way if that suits you better. There is a fixed administration fee of £195.00 at the start of the plan for the first plan holder and £95.00 for each subsequent named individual. Anything over that becomes part of the value of your plan and starts growing almost immediately.

What’s to stop my personal representative disobeying my instructions?

In a word, nothing. The law is clear: funeral instructions are unenforceable (the legal term is void). This is because, bluntly, you have no legal right to direct what is done with your body. If you are sure that your personal representative feels that they have a moral duty to carry out your instructions, then you must trust them to do so. If you can’t be sure, the best you can do is incentivise your personal representative by drawing up a will including a clause making any bequest to your personal representative conditional on their carrying out your funeral instructions. The Good Funeral Guide Prepaid Plan, like any other prepaid funeral plan, does not have the power to offer you any protection which the law cannot give you. That’s why we think it so important that you negotiate your instructions with the person or people who will be responsible for carrying them out.

But surely my Will can dictate how my funeral must be?

Sorry, no, a Will is for distributing your property, not for dictating how your body will be taken care of.

Do I have to choose a funeral director now?

No, you don’t have to but of course you can if you wish to. You can leave this to your personal representative/family. They can choose the best funeral director on merit when the time comes.

But I can choose a funeral director if I want to?

By all means choose now so that your relatives know who you want at the time of need. But don’t forget that your favoured funeral director could retire, sell up, move away or even die before you do. It is an important principle of the Good Funeral Guide Prepaid Funeral Plan that your personal representative is empowered to deal direct with a funeral director, and this means having the right to choose the right funeral director for them when the time comes.

What if I want a more formally structured funeral plan?

The easiest thing to do, if this is the case, is to choose one of the Open Prepaid Funerals standard plans. We’re happy to recommend them as one of the very few plan providers in the UK that we trust. Get in touch with them directly to discuss your needs. Their number is 0330 660 0072 or visit their website www.openprepaidfunerals.co.uk

How much will my money grow by?

The figure can go up and down depending on market changes but because it is invested in a cautious manner and with as small an amount of costs charged to the trust fund as is reasonable the average annual growth since 2003 has been 3.5%.

What happens if I die while on holiday or away from home?

The funeral director carrying out your funeral will arrange collection from anywhere in the UK, although a fee may apply. If you die abroad then repatriation costs will be incurred. Please check that your normal travel insurance policy covers this.

How can I pay for my funeral plan?

There are a number of ways. You can pay securely online through the website, you can pay by cheque or bank transfer or you can pay by instalments, regular or ad hoc. The vast majority of people who take out a plan pay by cheque. Some pay by bank transfer. A small percentage pay by Direct Debit (ideal if you want to make regular payments that suit you) and even less by card. It’s up to you though, just get in touch if you want to discuss anything.

Will it be easy placing my plan with a funeral director?

Because the Good Funeral Guide Plan is a prepaid funeral plan, but not in the traditional sense, then yes, absolutely, simply because the Open Trust Fund will pay the funeral costs that have been agreed once the funeral has taken place. Your relatives will know what’s available to spend and will make the arrangements to suit the budget.

Is the company independently owned?

The Good Funeral Guide is an independent Community Interest Company and Open Prepaid Funerals Limited is a privately owned UK based company and has been successfully operating since 2003. Both are separate from the Open Prepaid Funerals Trust Fund.

If I have a financial emergency can I ‘borrow’ money from the fund?

You can, but only what has been paid in by you. We can’t pay you the matured sum because the law does not allow the trust to be used as an interest-bearing savings account. The Open Trust Fund can only pay out the matured sum for funeral expenses which have already been incurred. Equally, if you choose to cancel the plan (in the case of multiple plan holders all must unanimously agree to cancel in writing) then you will be refunded what you have paid in, less the administration fee.

What if we have five nominated plan holders and one dies, can we add another?

Yes you can. Again this is one of the great things about the Good Funeral Guide Prepaid Funeral Plan. You can keep a maximum of five named plan holders within your ‘plan fund’ so it can keep being added to for the purposes of paying, in part or in full, for your family funerals. Each time you add a new plan holder (after initial plan creation) there will be an additional fee of £95.00 per named addition to cover the administration required.

If you have any other questions simply get in touch using the form opposite and we’ll answer them for you as soon as possible, alternatively create your perfect funeral plan today!